Gregor and the Lost Warrior
by StormyNiight
Summary: Look, it's a wonderful area where I have to tell you stuff about my story! *Formerly Waiting, Searching, Wanting* Fluff! Yay! (Only rated T for minor language) But anyways, leggo: Gregor is past the Underland. He is normal now. Or so he thought. Actually, no he didn't think. Something has been nagging at him ever since that day five years ago; though Gregor has been counting...
1. The Vacation

Well hello there fellow awkward shmucks in need of some dire Gregor x Luxa fluff.

(I kid you not; "shmucks" was not just notified as an incorrect word, yet both "Gregor" and "Luxa" were. The nerve of Word. JustkiddingIabsolutlyadoreyou.)

It's disappointing to admit that I am suffering from severe blockage from _all _of my current plots. Yes, even the Jack Frost one that I had hoped would turn out so well.

Sorry about my lack of a proper 'Underlander' way of speaking, I'm studying up on formal words and phrases though. So here I lay, in my unbearably hot room, at 3:31 in the morning. Honestly, I felt it suiting that I write a bit of fluff today, for I am to attend a cousin's wedding. Drat! I have rambled, and am too lazy to delete my ranting. You are trapped here reading this. Heh. It's pleasing. Not in that way you dirty minded freaks.

Disclaimer: (*Drumroll*) I. Own. Nothing! Characters, settings, and refrences belong to the wonderful mind of Suzanne Collins… And her editors, publishers, and whatnot. Yes, real places are used in my story. Such as shops, homes, schools, and jobs. Though I made some up.

Sandwiches. Dreadful sandwiches. Subs, dinners, or anything. Gregor could not stand the thought of sandwiches. Odd, for a boy of sixteen, who lived in Virginia. Oh! But of course, there where deli's built nearly on every street in the damned town of Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. Even the slightest 'P-nut buddah n' Jelly' as Boots had called them years ago. Of course, she could now properly speak, but the family liked to remember her giggling ways. Boots, her brown curls and all, walked proudly around the apartment; still commanding everyone around of course.

But _sandwiches? _Gregor would make himself sick at the thought. Think of how dry it is, he would torture, think of the smelly cheese on it. Gregor would rather smell Spaghetti-O's in the morning for the rest of his life, which was common for the sinking family.

Gregor turned his head to distastefully glance out the bus window. His family _should _be staying with relatives, but there was hardly any room in their old house to accommodate for them all. Gregor had started to take the bus home from his part time job at an old antique shop; he felt it suiting. The old, empty, bus dropped our former hero off around a block away from the current apartment center they lived in 'Magnolia Point.'

At least we're only about half an hour from the beach… Gregor thought half-mindedly, I bet she would have loved the beach, probably at night though. Which is cool because the turtles—No! Gregor winced, instinctively snapping the rubber band around his wrist. This was his habit now. Think of her, Gregor snapped the band, and pain would surely follow. Nobody questioned it either. Partly because they didn't know. Around Gregor's wrist were two bracelets. One, was a thick, woven, 'survival bracelet.' Though it would never last down—Snap! Gregor interrupted his own thoughts again.

There were times in the day when these memories were allowed for him. Well, during the night to be exact. The heart wrenching moment in the dark of Central Park. Seeing her enjoy the night made it better for him. Her first look at stars, and the world above the Underland. Gregor would subtly smile to himself as he lay in his small bed at nights, imagining a similar darkness blanketing the glowing city of Regalia.

These times weren't now.

Gregor reached into his front pocket and searched with his hand for the keys to the apartment. He grimaced, hoping he didn't leave the keys inside. The dark green door of the apartment opened, and behind it was one of the few Overlanders that could make him smile; Boots.

"Hey, you!" She chirped, growing out of her old 'Hi, you.'

"Hey, kiddo, anybody else home?" Gregor asked, stepping in the doorway, though pausing to run his fingers through Boots' dark curls.

"Hair!" She squealed, and ran off into the hallway bathroom to groom herself. Though glad she outgrew her messy-stage, Gregor would miss her comical 'oopsies' all over her outfits.

Gregor, having given up on a response from her, called for anybody else. Moments later, he distinctly heard Lizzie rummaging through her piles of books in her room. That was a plus to this apartment; each of them had a room. His grandmother was the only one able to stay with his father's relatives, there was a hospital and airport closer to their house, and with her heart attack just last year; all of them hoped for the worst.

Instead of heading towards the bathroom, Gregor paced into his own room; second down the hall. He had liked his New York room better, but at least this one was a bit bigger, _and _it had a door.

Gregor's fingers skimmed the dry wall as he slowly walked, occasionally catching on an uneven piece. Upon the arrival of his room, he made a sharp turn, and jumped onto his bed. A ritual of sorts to him; the only thing permanent. Gregor would have fallen right asleep, but he landed on something solid, and it nailed him right above his belly button.

"Shit." He murmured, not wanting Boots to hear anything vile, and rolled over to inspect whatever hurt his stomach. Propping himself up on an elbow, Gregor scanned his Rustic colored blankets, and when his eyes came across it, he froze in his tracks.

A scroll, not one that was found in the antique shop, but a one from the depths of the world. Down under the depths of the east coast, and spreading to who knows where else.

It took Gregor five minutes of staring at the white parchment to actually build up enough courage to open it.

The word gave Gregor such chills, he nearly lost all consciousness.

_**COME.**_

His long fingers trembled, and the single word shook on his paper. It had been five years since he traveled up. Five years, one month, and fourteen days, he silently told himself. Counting the time as he had done with his father. Gregor's heart raced so fast, Boots probably could have heard it.

"That means…" Gregor started slowly, "they've been watching us."

"Boots, Lizzie," He started to announce, but then a thought struck him. The scroll has no signature; no way to tell whom it is from. Are there still dangers? Has the peace kept for so long? These thoughts raced through his mind. Gregor suddenly became away of a silence in the apartment; Lizzie and Boots waiting to see why he had called. He shook his head, if not an Underlander, than who would write, and on a scroll none of the less?

Gregor would protect them, and anybody else that needed saving. Pulling his phone out of his left front pocket, he dialed his mother's number,

"I'm busy, Gregor." Her voice sounded metallic through the phone.

"I'm going to take the girls on a trip to the new resort, boss gave me a raise, and I would enjoy treating them." Gregor lied; his boss hated him. Hated his knowledge of antiques.

There was a muffled sigh from the other end.

"For how long?" The question came after a few silent moments.

"Two weeks most likely, although I was thinking of upping it to three if they were good." Gregor pretended as if Boots or Lizzie were listening to him talk on the phone, no doubt they were anyways.

"You better call me every other night, mister." His mother warned.

"There won't be any signal, it's up in the mountains. I'll be sure to e-mail you every two or three days; the resort does provide computers in the main lounge." Gregor was now dropping lies rapidly. He doubted that there were any resorts that didn't have signal for phones, but after living with only a house phone for so long, his mother didn't know what to expect from technology.

Unwillingly, she allowed him to take them to the 'resort.'

Quietly, Gregor slunk out of his room, and went into Lizzie's. She perked up immediately; expecting a resort trip.

"No resort," he murmured, "-but how would you like to see our scarred chum Ripred again?"

Her eyes literally brightened at the mention of scars. Not out of brutality, but because the old, scarred, rat had influenced her. Whenever she saw the faint, jagged, scars on Gregor's arms and legs, anybody could see her thinking back to the nights of coding.

"Get some stuff, we've got a long train ride ahead of us." Lizzie nodded so violently, here hair ruffled.

Gregor then snuck into Boots' room, and packed a backpack full of snacks and spare clothes. Not that much would be needed, surely they would be provided with extra clothing. He had packed two pairs of shoes for Boots; a Velcro strapped one, and one with shoelaces. The laces would keep her entertained as she pretended to tie her own knots.

With Boots' purple backpack slung over one shoulder, he walked back down the narrow hallway into his room. Gregor mainly looked for small things that would amuse the Underlanders in addition to flashlights for Lizzie and Boots, seeing that Gregor needed lights no more. Well, sort of. He was rusty on the skill, and only sometimes could see things, but they would come back to him soon in the dark world.

Gregor threw in his last pay, two one hundred dollar bills that he earned from selling an old lamp and nightstand, a pack of batteries, his old iPod, some socks, and a camera.

With his essentials in his bag, and sisters at each of his side, Gregor the Overlander began his next quest: Returning to the Underland.


	2. Vacationers Hate Traveling

Hello, dear few readers, I'll keep this one short. So I stayed up until, like, five A.M. writing and reading the last chapter. Here I am, in the same bed, at 10:18 in the morning starting another. I had about two hours of sleep, and I'll probably type this in the car as well… Assuming my laptop doesn't die on me.

Oh, here comes the boring part…

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for… Never mind, I own nothing. Characters, Underland settings, and refrences all belong to the wonderful Suzanne Collins. Though certain places in the above world are real, some of them are made up. I don't own any songs mentioned either, in this chapter, and probably during my whole story.

Now that we have that boring part over, let us begin!

Gregor, and his sister's, journey was extremely boring. The underground train that would take them to New York was slow; in need of major updating. One of the lights were out which caused Lizzie more distress than it did Boots, who sat contently in his lap while she swung here legs back and forth to skim the floor.

"I did it!" She would squeal at random whenever her sneaker brushed against the surface. This caused the other few people to look curiously I his direction. Gregor probably looked like a runaway to them, or probably a kidnapper.

"You probably just wanted us to come with you so you weren't alone on the way to Regalia." Lizzie said loudly, seeing the other passenger's curiosity.

"Boots is practically a princess to all the crawlers, which probably accounts for over half the population, and you forget that Ripred has a soft spot for you."

The people of the train, formerly judging the trio with their looks, now all looked out the windows the stare at the cold, grey, walls of the tunnel. If only they knew of more tunnels than just these man made ones, Gregor thought. But no, the Underworld wasn't for everybody to experience which assured Gregor, making him feel like the secret world was always with him.

After what seemed like endless hours of Lizzie murmuring assorted words, no doubt rearranging the letters in her mind, and Boots humming nursery rhymes that would stop for a verse while she switched over to her own version of "Call Me Maybe."

The train ride could not have stopped any sooner. One more repeated line about ripped jeans, and Gregor would have snapped. He kept a tight grip on Boots' small hand; not wanting her to run off with all these strangers around, even though she still thought everybody was her friend.

Lizzie on the other hand voluntarily clung to his right side, nearly tripping herself or Gregor every few steps. They exited the station and emerged into the bustle of the streets.

"Boots, want to ride on my shoulders?" Gregor asked loudly after nearly being knocked over by a large family. Not just large in number, he thought irritably.

Gregor didn't think the kid had heard him, but just before he asked again, she lifted her arms up for him to pick her up.

Now with the seven year old on his shoulders, and the nervous thirteen year old by his side, Gregor navigated through the chaos. After about thirty minutes or so, Gregor was able to tell where he was. The number of buildings thinned, but with that the people around them looked stranger. He silently thanked that his family didn't end up as one on the streets before continuing in the direction of their old home.

Boots had started to whine, but thankfully their old apartments came into view. The place looked a bit better, somebody had probably redone the outer walls after the rat incident. Instead of going to the laundry room, Gregor took the girls to Mrs. Cormaci's; hoping she still lived there. His question was soon answered when he went into her hallway, and smelled something amazing. Gregor guessed that the scent came from a fresh pot of spaghetti. Though it was no normal dish, Mrs. Cormaci was probably the best chef they had ever known.

Gregor lifted an enclosed fist, and rapped on the wooden door a few times, and for good emphasis, Boots also rang the doorbell multiple times.

A distinct grumbling on the other side of the door was heard, and he could have sworn he heard, "Distracting me from _my _cooking," but dismissed it with a small grin.

There was a loud 'click!' and the door swung open to reveal Mrs. Cormaci. She looked older; more worn. Gregor immediately blamed himself for any stress she had encountered because of him not being there on Saturdays. Her face was a bit more crinkled than the last, and crow's feet formed as she smiled.

"C'mon in." She murmured, her breath wispy with surprise. After a few moments she recovered from the shock of the growth the trio had been through. Gregor now stood at exactly six feet tall, which was almost a head taller than the woman. Track and other sports no doubt helped.

"You three look like just skin and bones!" She exclaimed as she stirred her famous spaghetti sauce. "Will you stay for dinner?" Mrs. Cormaci asked, to which they all happily nodded their heads. Boots helped set the small table singing, "Forks on the left," as she quickly went. Lizzie and Gregor both helped serve the spaghetti to everybody sprinkling cheese on and saucing the warm noodles.

Nobody spoke a single word as they slurped, chomped, and gobbled the meal.

Nobody had a single noodle remaining on his or her plates.

"Was it good?" Mrs. Cormaci said, "It was probably horrible. I'll use sauce from a jar next time." She fretted too easily.

"Never had anything better, ma'am." Gregor assured. He then stood to pick up everybody's plate, and take it to her sink to be washed.

"Don't you even bother! I need something to do tomorrow anyways, and dishes always pass time while I'm waiting for my shows in the afternoons." Mrs. Cormaci startled Gregor, nearly causing him to drop the dish he had started to sponge. After he set the half-clean plate down Gregor overturned his arm, and rolled up his hoodie sleeve, to check his watch.

8:49

"We should go." Gregor hefted his and Boots' bags onto his shoulders, and led them to the door when something struck him. "Wait outside, I'll be there in a sec."

Confused, the two kids obeyed, and Gregor shut the door.

"Mrs. Cormaci?"

"What is it?"

"May I ask you a favor?" His feet shuffled, feeling this may come across as strange.

"Depends, what's the favor?"

"Well two favors actually." At that, Mrs. Cormaci just shook her head; Gregor took this as a 'Continue on.'

"The fist thing is… I would like to take your picture. To show them, down there, and I also think some of them would like to see how you look. I did once tell them tales of your meals."

She agreed, and led him to a clear wall so there would be no distractions in the back round. Gregor stood next to her, and put on a fake grin as he lifted up the camera, and pressed the button. There was no flash that was emitted, but Gregor knew that would be fine. The Underlanders might have gotten confused at why some parts of him would glow in the picture because of the glare.

"The next is for a ride to Central Park." Gregor looked into her crinkled face with pleading eyes. She gave him a subtle look of confusion as if she were going to say, "Why not use the laundry room?" But she eventually smiled, and nodded.

"But before you go," Mrs. Cormaci started as she shuffled into her room. A few seconds later she came back with her hands behind her back. "The people down there have purple eyes right?" But before Gregor could answer she pulled her hands out from behind her back, and revealed a necklace. "I want you to have this. Well, no, not you, the girl." Mrs. Cormaci had always given him wonderful things, but never something so beautiful.

The necklace was simple, and for the most part had a small chain. It was the stone hanging from it that struck Gregor. So simple, yet so beautiful, was the purple stone. An amethyst, he guessed. The stone was cut in such ways, that if you held it from one angle, it appeared to be a light violet, but if you lowered it, it would seem as if it were a dark, flowing, purple.

Gregor slowly raised his hand to gently cup and caress the necklace as if it would break at any moment. Turning the gem over in his palm he saw that it was secured to the chain with a golden fastener.

His look could have said it all, but to be sure, Gregor thanked her aloud.

Without another word they strode out of the apartments, and hopped into Mrs. Cormaci's Camry. Gregor sat in the front seat, and would roll down the window occasionally to take pictures of New York.


	3. An Awaited Welcome

I'm on a serious roll. Well kinda. The first few chapters are rushed, and have little detail because I seriously want some fluff, and I'm sure you all do. 'All' meaning that one person who doesn't have an account and just stalks random people's fluff stories. Yes, random person, I know you're there, and I was once you. Although, person, if you would be so kind, would you write a review? I promise I'll add more fluff just for you! Even if it's like a bad review on how horrible this story is, I'll still give you more fluff. Why? Easy. I was intending on more fluff anyways.

Mrs. Cormaci pressed on the brakes a bit too hard and a bit too early. Causing Lizzie to bump her head on Gregor's seat. Thankfully, he had a tight grip on both the necklace and camera, and wasn't faltered.

"Mrs. Cormaci," Gregor began to give his most sincere thanks, but was cut off when she raised her hand from the steering wheel, and turned towards him.

"Just get out, and have a save trip down." She smiled, lips turning upwards, and wrinkles creasing further around her cheekbones and forehead. On command, the trio exited the vehicle, and hopped onto the curb. Each of them waved until the red taillights blurred into the other traffic. Grabbing a hold of both his sisters' hands, he led them around the park to take pictures. Upon arrival of the stone slab, Gregor took a picture of it as well, and then he turned the camera towards them, squatted down, and took a picture.

It took the former warrior a while to even get the slab to budge. He exerted much of his energy pushing, kicking, and leaning against the stone before he actually stuck his fingers under the edges and lifted. Gregor pushed the heavy slab, on an angle, and revealed the opening in the ground. He only pushed it open enough so that he could just barely squeeze in. On the top of the staircase, Gregor called up to his sisters for them to come down.

Lizzie helped pass down Boots first, who giggled as fingers clasped around her sides and lowered her into the darkness. Then Lizzie carefully lowered herself into the depths. Once the trio was all down, Gregor reached up to seal off the slab, jutting his fingers in a deep ridge to pull the opening shut.

Gregor still had his fingers entwined with theirs as they walked in the dark. Boots was busy making strange clicking noises, messing with the faint echolocation he could still see with, and Lizzie continued to cling to him as if something would jump out at any moment.

"The tunnel opens up a bit further ahead." He murmured to Lizzie, knowing Boots probably wouldn't understand.

The air felt slightly clearer as the walls around them grew and spread into the cavern. Though seeing that Lizzie was still uncomfortable, Gregor reached into his backpack and pulled out a flashlight for her. He even pulled one out for Boots so she could entertain herself with shadow puppets as they walked.

"Be they Overlanders, be they?" Said a raspy voice behind them.

"Be she princess, be she!" A different voice said in excitement.

Gregor flinched slightly at the newcomers' voices, but soon recognized them to be crawlers. Lizzie on the other hand squeaked and shrunk into Gregor's side, stepping on his foot as she did so.

"Big bugs?" Boots squealed, and she tore away from his hand to the direction of the voiced, her beam of light bouncing with every step. "Where's Temp?" She demanded abruptly, seeing there were only four crawlers there.

"Temp be at Regalia, Temp be. We heard princess' call, we heard." The crawler nodded his small head, and the others snapped their teeth as if to agree.

"What are you names, crawlers?" Gregor sat, motioning for Lizzie to do so as well.

"I be Reach, I be." Said the one who had first spoken.

"I be Nim, I be." Spoke the one who had not talked at all. Nim immediately shrunk back when he or she was done announcing their name.

"I am Tink, I am." Announced the third, to which Boots immediately ran up to the crawler in awe.

She probably now thinks Tinker Bell is a crawler, to this Gregor let out a small laugh.

"Princess likes Tink?" The crawler tilted its head in confusion, and probably awe as well.

"Tink's my favorite!" Boots exclaimed, probably talking about the movie character, and not the giant roach in front of her. Either way, Gregor would not say anything.

"What about you?" Lizzie lifted a small finger to point at the roach that had not spoken. In response, Lizzie only seemed to receive a dull look.

"Be that Screech, be that. Screech cannot talk, Screech cannot." Reach answered for the other crawler. Boots, confused by this, started clicking again in the tongue of the crawlers, and to Gregor's surprise, Screech clicked back.

"Can you take the princess and us to Regalia?" Gregor asked, not standing up yet in case of rejection.

"Will there be grain baskets, will there?"

"I'm sure we can work something out. Maybe even five baskets." Gregor smiled, remembering how terrifying his first time in the Underland had been, and how his life had depended on the grain.

"We lead princess and others to Regalia, we lead." Nim declared, and Boots at once leaped onto Tink's shell. Tink seemed honored, and took the lead. Gregor helped Lizzie climb onto Reach's back. Against Nim's suggestions, Gregor insisted on running beside the crawlers.

After running what felt like hours, the lights of Regalia came into view. Already Gregor's heart was aching. Almost there, he encouraged, just a bit more. He would have sprinted all the way if a sudden grey blur had not appeared in front of him.

"Not that way, Overlander." A deep voiced purred. Gregor recognized it as Euripedes the flier, Vikus' bond. "Through the back, we will go. Nobody needs to know of your arrival save Vikus, these crawlers, your kin, and I."

"W-why? Is something wrong? Did something happen?" Those weren't the exact questions he wanted to ask, but he figured the flier was smart enough to tell what he meant.

"She is fine, Overlander." Euripedes let out a 'hur, hur, hur,' sound that Gregor recognized as laughter, and rolled his eyes.

"I promised a thanks to these crawlers, for they are my friends now." Gregor didn't mean all of it as true as he would have liked, but maybe in the future he could trust them more. For now in the least, they seemed decent.

"Crawlers, newfound friends of the Overlander, I invite you to join us in the city. Unless we can trust you not to tell any other crawlers that you saw the princess today." Euripedes spoke calmly. Though Gregor realized that there was an edge to his voice, as if he hardly trusted them not to spread the word to each of their kin.

"We shall stay, we shall." Tink spoke for all of them, shuffling its wings.

"Go to the back gates, when the guards ask, simply say 'The sweetest fruit is sour around enemies' and they will let you in. Understand?" The flier turned to allow the trio of Overlanders to climb onto his back. Gregor felt a pang in his chest as he remembered flying with Ares.

"Do not waste time, crawlers, travel with great speed." The bat nodded before expanding his thin wings, and in one movement downwards, he lifted off into the sky. Or well, higher in the cave since there was no sky down here.

The flier was cautious enough to fly extremely close to the cave wall as to not be spotted by anybody on patrol. Lizzie continued to cling onto Gregor while on the other hand Boots was not using her hands to hang onto the bat.

For the most part Gregor remained silent, though breaking the quiet with questions on how Regalia had been. Euripedes would give him simple answers, but they sufficed for Gregor.

Soon the outer walls of the palace came into view, the unique designs covering every inch of the walls. The flier instructed that he would land in a darkened area of the palace, and transported to the hospital wings until tomorrow morning. Vikus would talk to him as soon as he could, and explain further.

The trio bid the single flier as he lifted off to presumably tell Vikus of their arrival. There were a few rooms that Gregor guessed used to be bedrooms, and after counting he realized there were at least three rooms. Despite having an open space for all of them, they agreed to stay in one room. Gregor took the lead as they scoped out rooms to make a decision.

The crawlers insisted on rooming with Boots, so they had to choose whatever felt like the largest. After walking into the second room, the space seemed acquitted to suit them all. Gregor and Lizzie walked into the other rooms to collect blankets. This was the first time in the whole trip they felt it safe enough to split up. Lizzie, with her arms full, returned back to the room first, and had to go back for a second trip.

Gregor would have entered the room seconds after her, but thought he saw something move in the unlit hallway. He turned briefly, staring in the shadows, but dismissed the thought of being watched. Just not used to it yet, he assured himself. Gregor turned back to face the room, and almost stepped in, when he heard footsteps behind him. Gregor would have turned around and reacted sooner, but he was nearly tackled to the ground in a hug.


	4. A Different Reason

Damn, you S.O.B.s work fast. I wrote the third chapter on my way home, and I probably have some mistakes in there because my laptop brightness was annoying the complete hell out of me. I'm starting to pace myself a bit, switching between my own plot, and this one. Thank you so much for the reviews, I didn't see them until after I finished the third. I'm going to try and make the chapters longer from now on, I looked at the word count from an actual chapter and the book, and it was over 4000 words. Oh, one more thing, I'm lacking on some names. As the obvious, most fliers have Greek Mythology names, and the people of the Underland have names from works of Shakespeare. I was wondering about anybody's opinion on whether or not to have a 'Romeo' and if I should pair him up with Lizzie? For a moment I thought about a bit of Hazard x Lizzie, but scratched it because Hazard can't separate himself from Boots. No, I won't do anything between the two because that's utterly disgusting since she's only around eight. Anyways, here we go.

Gregor almost attacked whatever latched onto his back, but soon saw a head of jet-black hair, and cracked a small smile. The little boy he met in the woods years ago was now nearly as tall as his chin. And at only twelve, Gregor thought with a hint of jealousy.

"Hello, Hazard." He greeted, leaning down to give him a hug as well. They boy's bright green eyes stared up at him.

"Gregor, I can't believe you're here in Regalia! Just wait until Luxa finds out she'll—" Gregor grabbed his arm before Hazard could run off back into the shadows.

"You can't tell anybody. How did you find me anyways?" He released him, and led Hazard into the room they were all temporarily staying in.

"Purvox told me he felt somebody. Well three somebodies. One of them really loud." Hazard let out a giggle, and Gregor realized he probably meant Boots.

Gregor led him in so he could greet the others. Hazard ran past Gregor and sat by Boots. Without missing a beat he started a conversation in the tongue of the crawlers she was with. Lizzie just sat awkwardly on a pile of blankets she had picked out to make a pallet on the floor. She looked between Gregor and the clicking group a few times before sitting up and walking over to him.

"Guess we'll be making another pallet since Hazard is under this quarantine now as well?" She leaned up against the opposite doorframe from him.

Gregor made a sound that sounded like an amused 'Hmph' and nodded his head once.

"Guess so."

Lizzie and Gregor set up different sleeping areas for each of them. Crawlers would sleep in one area not far from Boots or Hazard. Who of which were only a few feet away. Against Lizzie's insisting, Gregor allowed her to sleep in the bed, knowing that sleeping on the same level of oversized cockroaches probably freaked her out.

Gregor found a stack of cards in the nightstand next to the bed, and pulled them out. He was going to play a game with all of them, but the pictures on the cards were different. Looking through them, he realized there were at least three of each picture. Looking through them again, the picture appeared to be animals. Except for one trio of cards, which appeared to depict a half naked woman. Gregor pulled those cards out, and put them back in the drawer.

Soon the gang was playing a game of Go Fish with the Underland cards. The crawlers had a hard time holding the cards, and remembering to say 'Go Fish' so they left the game and simply watched Boots play. They would nod their heads or shuffle their wings in amazement whenever she would say 'Go Fish' to another player.

Hazard would slip in and out of various languages, and would say everybody's name in the different tongue; clearly enjoying the opportunity to show off.

Just when the game had ended, and Lizzie matched three nibblers to win, there was a knock at the entrance. Gregor turned around; he was facing the wall for the game, and smiled when he saw the familiar face.

"Vikus." He said in greeting as he rose and walked towards the man he used to see as a fatherly figure.

Instead of greeting, the old man raised his arm and motioned for Gregor to follow him. Then, without a word, Vikus walked out of the frame. His lightly colored shirt billowed after him, and his footsteps made no sound as he made his exit.

Gregor looked over his shoulder at the group to shoot them a quick look of confusion. He shrugged, assuming it was just Vikus' formality, or that he didn't want to express himself much in front of the others. Once out of the crowded room, Gregor opened his mouth to speak, but what cut off by Vikus' flick of the wrist.

"Why be you here, Overlander?" He said in a flat, yet clipped, tone. The man still had not turned around.

"There was a… a scroll. Should… Should I leave?" Gregor stammered out in confusion. His brow lowered slightly, and his jaw clenched.

Vikus lifted a hand, Gregor assumed, to rub his temples, and then he let out a sigh.

"Do not fret, Gregor, I am glad about your arrival," Vikus looked over his shoulder, but not directly at Gregor yet. "Your being here will… Cause much," He paused for the right word, "turbulence."

"But… But there was a scroll. I thought something was wrong… Thought something was urgent…" Gregor's brow lowered further in his completely confused state. Sure, Gregor would get confused in class if the teacher called on him while he was daydreaming, but no, this was a different confusion. In school it seemed only his mind was confused, but now his emotions seemed to be disoriented as well.

Vikus turned to face him.

"It was not anybody from Regalia." Vikus flatly explained. Gregor would have been crushed if Vikus had not added on to the statement.

"Though it was an Underlander that sent for you, Gregor." Vikus gave him a concerned look, light purple eyes only slightly narrowing. Gregor's legs' wobbliness faded after that, and the Overlander let out a much-needed sigh of relief.

"Who sent it then? The scroll, that is." Gregor looked Vikus in the eye; silently begging for the elder to look at him back. He did. The old man turned around, and took a step forward to answer.

"Ripred."

Maybe I lied about longer chapters… Sorry, guys, but I really wanted to finish this tonight. v.v I've been sick for the past week, and my meds are finally kicking in. I don't want my drowsiness to affect this too much, but I'm afraid I'll loose the feel of the chapter if I continue. So I took a break to watch Vines in the middle of this and had this major 'Oh shit' moment. I hope you don't mind, but I messed up on the time in the story, so just go with it, okay? I realized that technically Luxa and Gregor were 12 at the end of the series, and 12+5=17. So lets just pretend that Luxa was a late 11 at the end of the fifth book, alright? Cool. Just a warning that I noticed was that my Word isn't that great with grammar. Literally if you type in "I like their blue baskets" it wants to change 'their' to 'they're' for some reason. I found it mixing up 'your' and 'you're' a lot as well. Well, goodnight then, everybody!


	5. Prophecy or Insanity?

Hey, y'all. I'm in a better-ish mood now, and definitely _not _having any side effects from medication… (*Nervously looks around*) Do the people of FanFiction prefer I go right into the plot or should I continue this beginning-commentary-thing I've been doing, and leave the talking towards the end? Now back to where we were! Wait, never mind. Opinions on the cover picture? I lazily put it together myself, and wasn't patient with that much shading and detail, but I'm a huge fan of their hair blowing around. (Gotta love that smudge tool.) All right, I now free you, dear reader.

"Ripred? Why would he… I mean..? What?" Gregor, utterly dumbfounded by _this _explanation stumbled forward to see if he heard Vikus correctly.

"Why does this confuse you, Overlander?" Vikus seemed fazed by Gregor's reaction.

"Didn't seem like the old rat had any emotions." He grumbled out, his voice faltering and lowering at least a partial octave. His brown gaze sunk to the stone floor, and Gregor's shoulders hunched a bit.

"I don't think he had much of a choice, in all honesty." Vikus rested a single hand on Gregor's right shoulder.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He choked out; this whole situation was overwhelming to somebody who's gotten used to the only drama in his life was avoiding the excessively popular people at school, or managing his time wisely enough so that he could finish all of his homework.

"There is something we must discuss." And with the flick of his wrist, Vikus turned and led Gregor further down the hallway.

"We must not have you on fliers too often for the time being, the citizens would get suspicious." Vikus added as he turned the corner. Torches were becoming more frequent, so the halls were beginning to light up more. This made Gregor release a sigh of relief.

"More people than we wanted know of your arrival. Since Euripedes found you, at least all of the fliers know of your being here due to their hearing, but don't fret, they have all been sworn not to tell anybody. Not even their bonds." Gregor, in a shocked manner, widened his eyes. I always thought that broke laws, he thought as he continued to listen to Vikus.

"You will remain in the dark hall for two days. Meals will be brought at respectable times, and if you wish, small foods and drinks can be brought in between on account of Boots." Vikus clasped his hands together behind his back, gave a nod as if to review what he said, and continued to walk. "By the way, how fare you and your sisters, Gregor?" He said, loosing his formality, and gaining what Gregor always thought of as a fatherly characteristic.

Despite the confusing mood Gregor was in, he smiled ever so slightly, and summarized the last few years. Starting with the day Boots had first called him 'Gregor' and concluding with the night they all descended back into the Underland. Though Gregor was sure to add emphasis on how the years of attempting to forget the Underland was extremely difficult if not impossible. He didn't say _her _name directly, but Gregor assumed that Vikus knew what he meant; one side of his mouth curling into a slightly amused grin, yet his thin lips did not part to reveal his teeth.

"There is little to be said about the changes around here," Vikus started as he rounded yet another corner, "Since the council was replaced by the representatives, Queen Luxa has taken up more roles, but is still not yet the full leader of Regalia. The queen will take on those roles directly after her coronation. Which should be in just a few days time. We're considering letting you and your siblings attend, but for now we have more urgent issues."

Gregor stood quietly as he let all of it sink in.

"Urgent issues?" He managed to say, tongue suddenly feeling too big for his mouth.

"We're calling it 'The Prophecy of the Return.' 'We' being Ripred, Nerissa, and myself." Vikus turned towards the doorway of a room on his right, raised his hand, and tapped gently on the frame with the outer part of his hand. Moments later the door, Gregor realized that there was not an outer knob or handle to gain access to the inside without having somebody there in the first place.

When the door was ajar about five inches, a ghastly white hand poked out, and beckoned them inside. Vikus carefully sidestepped in, and had to suck in his enlarged gut, to fit. Gregor slipped in with ease, just barely missing the wood by hairs.

"Nerissa, I bring you the Overlander." Vikus announced as soon as Gregor's right foot was inside the room with the rest of his body. The room was dark save for a torch that was no more than embers lightly burning now. Even with the dim light, Nerissa's pale skin and severely light blonde hair seemed to glow. If the torch were burning at it's full stature, Gregor would be able to see all of the veins along her arms, the thin blue and red lines almost etched unrealistically in her skin. But for now, in the dim light, Nerissa looked like a ghost. Her body was still thin, and her boney shoulders pointed up and out. Raising her thin, frail, arms, she gave Gregor a friendly hug to which he awkwardly embraced back.

"Greetings, Gregor." Her long hair veiled her face as she nodded politely. "It seems Regalia is in your need once more."

"About that," Gregor started, "I thought Sandwich had no more prophecies of the warrior." His brow quivered nervously.

"This is my prophecy." Nerissa looked up, and in the faint light, Gregor could see she was bearing a wide, crazy no doubt, grin. He knew she had moments years ago where her visions would help them in quests, but a whole new prophecy? The chances were slim in Gregor's mind that this was no more than a nightmare she had.

He was about to object when she put the words in his mouth for him.

"The Overlander believes me to be crazy. Believes that this is just a vicious dream I've had. Tell me, Gregor, do dreams repeat themselves for years on end? Do they, huh? Do they?" She was now on her side laughing like crazy. Gregor, wide eyed, took an abrupt step back. Vikus reached forward to help her, but Gregor could have sworn he heard the young woman hiss at her grandfather.

"The shattered warrior has been stolen." She cooed, "The remains the weapon Sandwich himself once wielded have vanished." Nerissa sat up, and crossed her legs. "Gone!" She exclaimed in a whisper, moving her hands in one swift arc above her head for effect.

This is weird, Gregor thought as he back up towards the wall, no this is more than weird; this is insane.

"The Overlander will return." She said, now less like a maniac, and more as if she was in a daze. "Citizens of Regalia will beg him to solve their own petty cases, but the Overlander Hero only wishes he could tend to his own needs. Your once weapon has been stolen, and the Overlander _must _get it back. The sword is not only a weapon of destruction, but a sign of strength, peace, and more importantly: hope." Nerissa paused to let out what seemed to be a sneeze before continuing on with her rant.

"Vile insides will spill from those without blood. Yes, yes, the ones who have taken many, and those deaths must be avenged. The Overlander must travel farther than any mapped part of the known Underland, and venture out to a place long forgotten. Despite the turmoil, the Overlander saves one from his own destruction, one that reminds him of himself." Nerissa continued to ramble, though most of her words were slurred anyways.

Gregor expected more, but the thin girl suddenly decided to break into a chorus of 'Bat, bat, come under my hat,' and Vikus took that as their signal to remove themselves from the room.

"She's been getting worse for about two years now." Vikus said as he shook his head. They didn't bother attempting to get out of earshot of the lunatic, for she probably could not hear them anyways, and she was still singing about bacon and bats; sound muffled only slightly with the door shut.

"I could barely tell what she was babbling about." Gregor could hear his heartbeat in his ears from the words stirring him up.

"Part of what she said had some truth to it, which is why I believe she actually is correct." Vikus began walking down the hallway in which they came from, and Gregor felt his heart throb slightly at the thought of going back into the dark chambers where he would be sleeping with his family.

"The sword was stolen?" Gregor asked, despite Vikus' fast pace, he kept up.

"It was being kept in a royal outpost for good luck. Last anybody heard was that not a body was left there, and the shattered pieces left with them."

"Any idea who the culprits were? Nobody can disappear without a trace."

"Some think that rogue gnawers are behind it, but I myself believe it to be cutters." Vikus shuffled his hands uncomfortably until they remained still against his back. Gregor shoved his own hands into the front pocket of his jacket to which Vikus said:

"Such interesting styles you Overlanders bear. On one good note, nobody will have to burn your clothes in this trip, no gnawers other than Ripred have been present in Regalia for about a week or so, and nobody is searching for you at the moment." Vikus mused, his clipped tone having a subtle softness to it. Gregor smiled at that, this was the Vikus he knew.

"The pocket in the front is to warm your hands if you want. Or if you want easy access to something you could stick it in there. Like a writing utensil or something." Gregor explained, pulling out a pencil and house key that was stowed away in the depths of his pocket.

"Peculiar." Vikus mused, as if all Overlander things were strange.

Gregor found himself smiling a bit; for the first time in a while no doubt.

"What about Hazard though? I would think Luxa would notice if her cousin, erm 'brother,' goes missing for days." He slightly faltered around the difficult topic.

"Hazard found you?" Vikus turned, wide eyed, and after Gregor nodded he raised his hand to caress his temples with a forefinger and thumb.

"I could make an excuse for him to be absent for at the least one night, but I fear that suspicions will expand if he is gone for too long." Vikus ground his teeth together while he thought, still rubbing his temples.

"Hazard can't be a no-show, so how long until the coronation? Surely a quest date will be arranged by then." Gregor suggested, bringing the topic back onto the coronation.

"I do not know what a 'no-show' is, but I assume from the name it means something of absence. Hazard has been asked to dance with Luxa as tradition seeing that Henry was going to do it, but you know how that went. It's actually quite coincidental that you received Ripred's message when you did, as far as I know he's sent many in the past few months ever since the theft, for many Underlanders have requested you attend. Funny that I say that, some of them have only heard stories of the 'great warrior' who saved all of Underland." Vikus' purple eyes flashed amusement, and for a moment, Gregor thought they even twinkled.

This is probably my favorite chapter so far. Well maybe. Sorry for all you diehard Nerissa fans, but the one thing that stuck to me the most was how she totally flipped out at Gregor and Ares' trial, so I thought it would be cool to bring some of that back. On a larger scale… There's a big chance I won't be able to update before next week. I'm going to a concert in California for Imagine Dragons. Extremely excited. Hope you all enjoyed it!


	6. The Unwanted Guests?

Woo. Chapter 6, bebeh. Upon request, I have taken it into consideration of throwing in Gluxa. At the mention of this, you little cheaters probably scrolled all the way down, didn't you? Well restrain yourselves, you little turds. The decision on whether or not to pair Lizzie up has been made, but none of you shall know. (*Evil laugh*) Anyways, I'm sure you guys are just jumping out of your seats, beds, or whatever your arse is resting in.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. (Just this nice glass of water that I almost spilt on my keyboard.) The Underland Chronicles belong to the wonderful Suzanne Collins. [Although I'm still upset about Prim…]

* * *

After Vikus led Gregor back to the 'dark hall,' he greeted Lizzie and Boots, and gave a gentle nod to the four crawlers. Before he left, Hazard ran up to Vikus and gave him a hug. To the affection, Vikus ruffled the boy's black hair, and left.

Out of boredom, Gregor attempted to make small talk with the cockroaches, but they were far too busy with trying to learn songs from Boots. To Gregor's surprise, they actually knew a few lyrics. Probably passed on by Temp, he thought.

"Hates us princess, hates us?" Gregor heard the questionable tone from one of the crawlers, unable to tell them apart now. Looking over from his tower that he was making out of cards, Gregor saw Boots slowing down. Her small curls bouncing with every nod of the head she made out of wariness.

"No, no, no. She's just tired. Boots will play tomorrow morning, right?" He rushed over to Boots, knocking over his tower regretfully, and lifted her so he could prop her up onto his hip.

"We sleep near princess, we sleep?" A crawler, Gregor thought was Tink, scurried after him as he hefted the growing girl onto the bundle of blankets set out for her and Hazard.

"Sure, over there is your spot." Gregor waved them over to the thinner heap of blankets. "G'night Boots." He refrained from saying 'sleep tight' in fear that she would say 'don't let the bed bugs bite' in front of the crawlers. Gregor leaned down and brushed his lips on her forehead before walking over to Lizzie. On the way, he passed Hazard about to lie down.

"Sleep well, little man." He said, patting the kid awkwardly on the head.

"Sleep well, big warrior." Hazard responded, green eyes still sparking from the praise he received. Gregor offered him a small smile, and turned to continue on to Lizzie.

She was obviously uncomfortable in the bed, and in the same room as the strange, talking, cockroaches, but she didn't say a word except for, "Goodnight."

Gregor nodded, and carefully tiptoed over to where two light blue blankets that were spread out for him. Having no leftover pillows, Gregor pulled off his sweatshirt, rolled it up, and wedged it under his head. Within moments the warrior was asleep, the dark wave of slumber enveloping him in heartbeats.

* * *

Gregor awoke to somebody violently shaking his shoulder, and causing him to whack his forehead on the stonewall he was sleeping against. After not immediately responding to the shakes, his attacker slapped him in the face.

"I'm on break, mom." He instinctively groaned.

"If I ever have pups I'm making them wake up extra early." A raspy voice growled irritably. Thus jolting Gregor from his sleep.

"Ripred, what do you have against sleep?" He slowly rolled over and sat up, being sure to shove the rat as he pushed himself onto his feet.

"I'll sleep when I'm fat and lazy." Ripred sat back on his haunches and lifted a claw to pick at it. Gregor, on instinct, patted his front pocket once to check that his phone was still there before continuing.

"You already are." Gregor snorted before bracing himself for any attack from the scarred gnawer. He was right, Ripred swung his thick tail upwards, and would have it Gregor squarely in the face had he not have lifted his hand to intercept it.

"Another time. How have you been, Ripred?" Gregor glanced around, seeing the others start to stir from their sleep. Lizzie shot out of bed and cautiously stepped towards Ripred, her brown eyes widened.

"Fine enough. Being bonded to a royal has its benefits." Ripred snorted as he patted his belly. "Come here, pup." He turned and widened his short forelegs to suggest a hug.

Lizzie shot forward and nearly tackled the old rat, but couldn't do even that on account of his massive size. His dark fur surrounded the edges of her body; Gregor saw that it was noticeably longer than before.

"It's been _forever._" Lizzie said, though it was muffled and nearly lost in the rat's coat.

"Far too long." Ripred simply nodded.

"Oh, Ripred, meet the crawlers that helped us get here. This is Screech, Reach, Tink, and Nim." Gregor simply nodded in their direction, not wanting to accidently insult them if he mixed up their names.

"Where's Temp!" A sudden yell startled both Ripred and Gregor.

"Temp's where is always is," Ripred snapped in her direction, though softened a bit after Gregor struck him, "He's down in the nursery with the other Underland kids. Probably having a morning tea party as we speak."

The crawlers made confused clicking noises, not aware of the sarcastic tone Ripred was using.

"We get Temp, we get?" One crawler, maybe Nim, took a few steps forward and looked between Ripred and Gregor.

"Maybe tomorrow. Depends on when we break out. Speaking of which, you got any escape plans so far, Rager?" Ripred said smoothly and nonchalantly.

"You mean they aren't letting me out?" Gregor's voice cracked a bit.

"Maybe not for another week. Shame really, considering our beloved queen's coronation is _today _though Vikus probably told you another answer to not raise your hopes. Hazard, being her second closest relative, is a special member. And look who _isn't _here." Ripred turned towards where Boots lay quietly, and what Gregor saw nearly made his heart stop. There lies his snoring sister. _Alone. _

"You are to take me there at once." Gregor glared at the gnawer.

Ripred simply yawned, as if all of this was predictable.

"Can we please go?" Lizzie lifted her head so that her chin was pressed up against Ripred's chest.

"Well when you put it like that." Ripred stood to his full height, letting Lizzie release herself, and then dropped back down to all fours so that he could pad out the entryway. "There's a present for all of you in the nightstand, you won't get into the party without them." Ripred's voice barely carried through the doorway.

Obeying, Lizzie instantly snapped her neck in the direction of the small stand, and shuffled over. The single drawer opened with a gritty noise, but Lizzie pulled out several outfits. Gently, Lizzie laid them all flat against the bed, and took a step back for all of them to marvel at.

The smallest dress, presumably for Boots, was a faded shade of purple; like all the eyes that belonged to the people of the Underland. It was bordered by a thin, grey, piece of cloth that carefully was woven in to hold the front and back together.

In the middle was a longer dress that was a light blue; about two shades brighter than the blankets Gregor had slept on. Around the torso area, just before where the dress started to ruffle, were small white patterns. Gregor realized these to be small geometrical shapes bordering the dress.

Lastly, in front of Gregor, was probably the finest thing he would ever wear. Unlike the Overlanders, Underlanders had no wool or materials to make tuxedos and suits. The shirt and pants laid out for Gregor were a dark grey, though the pants were slightly darker. At the shoulders, there were thin white lines that looked like webbing almost. After running his index finger over the design, Gregor noticed they were slightly raised off the surface of the smooth shirt. Down the middle was the same webbed design, although it slanted at the end. Gregor assumed that normally the outfit would be worn and finished off with a sword or other sheath at his side, but since there was little chaos still in Regalia he guess he would not be provided with one.

The crawlers, Gregor, and even Boots each took turns making circles and facing the opposite way of the person getting dressed. Lizzie strongly approved of this.

Gregor was the last to change, and had to keep an arm on Boots so she wouldn't turn around and stare at him. Once he was sure he had the formal attire on correctly, and his legs in the right legs of the pants, Gregor gave them the 'all clear' to turn around.

Lizzie wrinkled her nose at Gregor.

"You don't tuck in the shirt, dummy." She yanked the shirt out of his pants swiftly, and smoothed down the front of it.

"Much better." She nodded.

"Can you all go any slower? A year has probably passed since you woke up." Ripred groaned from outside, and Gregor heard a loud 'thud' has he leaned against the wall.

After letting out a chuckle, Gregor made sure Boots' dress looked okay. All of the outfits seemed a bit big on them, Boots' left dress sleeve sliding off every once in a while, and Gregor's pants a few inches too long. They tried to leave, but Ripred thrust his hand back towards the door.

"You can't go in there barefooted! Didn't you see the sandals in the bottom of the drawer?"

The trio sulked back into the room, threw on the sandals, and went back to try their luck with Ripred once more.

"I guess that'll do." Ripred nodded sideways a bit as he lowered himself back onto all four paws and began to scurry into the darkness. Gregor looked back over his shoulder to make sure Boots was following, and sure enough she came out riding on the back of a crawler.

Gregor just sighed, and walked swiftly to keep up with Ripred. It would have been an easier task has his pants not kept catching under the heels of his shoes. All of them made scratching, shuffling, and scraping noises as they rounded the corners of the palace. It had begun to get noticeably brighter in the halls around when Gregor had started to hear music. Upbeat, cheery, music that made his heart skip a beat, and made him want to dance. Even though everybody knew well how he lacked that skill.

Ripred halted at the doors to where Gregor assumed a dining hall was. Though nobody was using it, which worried him.

"Here you are, warrior, pups, and crawlers. The royal dining hall." Ripred's maw curled into what Gregor could have sworn was a smirk, but before he could question it, Ripred's tail lashed out and swung the doors open with a loud 'thud!'

The music died, chatter stopped, and Gregor felt the eyes of all the Regalians on him. All of them filled with curiosity. All except one pair of eyes that shone with something else.

* * *

Woo. Did you expect something else? Probably. Unless you were one of the horrible little people that could not contain themselves and went ahead and read the bottom. In that case, scroll your little sorry butt to the top and start over, I'm disappointed you impatient reader. On the other hand if you were a good person and read through, you deserve a pat on the back because you listened. On account of this lovely ending I am positive that I am updating tomorrow or on a rare chance maybe later tonight.


	7. Runaway Birthday Girl

Starting time: 7:53 Pm E.S.T. I'm sure this was long awaited! I give you Gluxa! Well not yet. We need to get through some stuff first. I would like to thank the acad—Never mind. I'll keep this short so:

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Underland Chronicles. Including, but not limited to, characters, places, songs, etc.

* * *

"Oh shit." Gregor mumbled, probably a bit too loud on account of everybody's eyes on him. Ripred will pay for this, he irritably thought. All of the sudden his shirt felt tighter out of fear and embarrassment, and he probably would have soiled his clothes if Vikus had not stood up.

"Welcome, warrior." Vikus nodded, though his clipped tone seethed with irritation, "Start the music, this is a celebratory day for our queen. We shall celebrate in the presence of the warrior as well!" He nodded towards the large band that were awkwardly looking around. They started back up, but the first few notes were off key or too late.

Slowly, Gregor emerged, sisters and crawlers flanking him. In order to hold together what little confidence he had, he raised his hands to smooth out the wrinkles in the front of the grey shirt. Boots ran off with the crawlers, and met up with another group of crawlers. Over the loud music, Gregor could have sword he heard, "Temp!" Followed by a squeal of excitement. Lizzie followed Ripred like a lost puppy as he went to go converse with a group of gnawers. Gregor felt a gaze burning into the side of his head while his eyes followed his sisters worriedly.

Turning, Gregor locked gazes with probably the most beautiful person in the room. As if somebody else was controlling his body, he walked through a crowd of dancing and eating people. Gregor almost knocked over a flier, who in turn almost knocked over a woman holding a fancy drink. He would _not _break eye contact with the light purple eyes he had longed to see for many years. Carefully, he stepped onto the elevated platform where the lower classed royal family was seated. Stellovet, Howard, and the twins shot him mixed looks. Though Howard's gaze was cold, and sharp.

Gregor heeded the family no attention, and continued up the steps that led towards the main royal family. Miravet, Vikus, Hazard, Nerissa, and the queen all sat there at a large rectangular table. In the center was her majesty herself, with cousins on either side, and Vikus and her great aunt flanking them. Hazard seemed more content about eating what looked like green tinted noodles, and Nerissa was muttering things until Gregor approached, then she started giggling loudly, but other than that the family remained silent. Gregor didn't know what made him do it, but he loyally kneeled onto one knee, and lowered his head to the ground. His body stopped shaking, and his fists were squeezed shut.

"Rise, Gregor the Overlander." It was Vikus who spoke, and the music died once more. Gregor looked up, and hesitantly pushed himself off the ground before brushing off his clothes. He looked at her, but he no longer held the queen's gaze, everybody was focused on Vikus.

Gregor silently begged her to look at him, her gaze softened, but her jaw was still clenched.

She parted her lips, and Gregor hoped that she would say something, but instead she let out a whistle, and moments later a wave of golden hefted her up. Gregor's heart sank as she flew off into the darkness. He opened his mouth to say something to Vikus, but the old man raised his hand to stop him.

"Euripedes," He called to the grey bat, causing the flier to look his way, auditories alert, "Assist the warrior in retrieving our runaway queen please." Vikus sighed, as if this were a normal thing. Based off the bat's reaction; it was. Euripedes nodded once, and fluttered silently over to Gregor. The warrior swiftly climbed onto him, and cast a glance in the crowd to search for his sisters. Boots was still getting rides from a group of at least ten crawlers, and Lizzie was with a group of nibblers.

"This is normal?" Gregor leaned his stomach against the bat's back to avoid getting too much of the air in his face and ears. His hair was no concern to him; he had been cutting it shorter for years now.

"Third time this week alone." If bats could sigh, Euripedes just did while he spoke. To add effect the flier shook his head from left to right as well. "Luckily she hides in the same place almost every time."

"Almost?" Gregor asked, unsure.

"Sometimes she hides where Ares, your past bond, once lived, and sometimes she hides out under the palace." The greying bat paused, "Though this time she is in Ares' small cavern."

If Gregor's chest didn't feel like it was exploding, he would have sighed, but for now he remain silent. Within minutes, the outline of the opening came in to view. Deep down, the light of a single torch flickered just barely.

"Wait outside." Gregor whispered, "I doubt I'll need backup." To this Euripedes nodded, and settled down in a dip in the stone floor.

With his right arm touching the side of the wall for balance, Gregor tapped every once in a while instead of clicking his tongue. The entrance soon widened into a room, and before Gregor could even open his mouth to say something to the two forms sitting in the dark, one of them rose.

Gregor hardly had enough time to react to the attack, just barely ducking down low enough so that the fully extended form of Aurora could fly over him. The flier did manage to nick the top of his left ear, causing a thin trail of blood to slowly swell down the side of his face. He heard an angry murmur from behind him, and slowly raised his hands while turning around. The golden bat then settled, and shoved past him to sit back next to the other form in the dark. Gregor heard a few whispers before any word was actually spoken.

"Go away, Overlander." The voice of the queen finally said, and she just barely stifled a sob and shudder. Gregor ignored her and took a step closer.

"Leave, Overlander." Aurora warned, agitation spiking in her voice. With the echolocation, Gregor could just barely see the bat's wing blanketing the queen in a hug.

"No." Gregor said flatly, taking a large step forward, and sitting down loudly. In the dark, he could see them both flinch at the sound, but paid no attention. He did however notice the bubble of blood filling his ear, but only tilted his head to the left slightly so the blood would not travel into his eardrum. There were more whispers as if, and Gregor thought he distinctly heard 'As you wish.' Before Gregor could say anything else, Aurora lifted off and flew out of the cave. He assumed the queen was riding her, but still saw the other form huddled together in the dark, her once white dress now surely covered in dirt.

"Why do you come here?" The voice was muffled from her hand covering her mouth to soften the sobs.

"Since when do you run away from birthday parties?" Gregor responded, as if his intentions weren't already clear. The answer came after a few moments of silence.

"Where did you get those clothes?" The question shot back. Gregor smirked slightly.

"Why do you look so beautiful?" Gregor scooted a bit closer. The cavern was silent, as Gregor expected it would be. He took this time to look around at the walls before speaking again.

"You know, it may be strange, but in the Overland 'hello' or 'hey' is a proper greeting, not running away." Gregor leaned back a bit, luckily finding a cavern wall behind him to support him. In the faint light from the torch stationed on the other side of the wall, he could just barely make out her pale legs.

With each moment, his heart throbbed in his chest, but after a few moments Gregor stretched out his legs to let his feet bask in the dim light of the flickering torch.

She must have seen this because less than ten seconds later Gregor could see and hear her shuffling towards him. Within moments, Gregor was crushed from the side by two arms around him in a hug. Without delay he did the same. It took a while for anybody to say anything, as if holding each other was enough to last them a long time.

"Hello, Gregor, it has been too long." She spoke softly now, only the faintest of her sobs showing through her voice.

"Too long indeed, Luxa, far too long."


	8. Moment Ruined

Ohmymothertruckinggod. You have no idea how embarrassed I am right now. I promise I'll make that huge gap up to all of you wonderful readers. I was framed and got a referral for something stupid that resulted in my laptop being taken away. To tell the truth I got it back a few days ago, but I dimwittedly used it to watch Netflix instead to find out that season three of Kickin' It was on there. Yes, I'm in middle school and I have an obsession with Kick. So of course I watched all the episodes in one sitting only to shed a tear in the last episode. Freaking. No. Why did I tell you this? Because as my sincerest apology I will be writing more. Yes, you read correctly, more. It will either be of: 1. The aftermath of Kickin' It. 2. Oneshots from Star Crossed. 3. The Hunger Games (The Capitol children as the victims like book 3 suggests.) 4. Oneshots with Simon and Iz (Mortal Instruments, and them because honestly the actor that played Jace in the first movie looked like a drug addict and therefor ruined 'Clace' for me.) OR 5. Something from a book series/movie/show that hopefully I watched. (Note: I am not a Whovian, watcher of Supernatural, or a brony/pegisister.)

Gregor didn't remember falling asleep, or even laying with Luxa, but here he stirred in the darkness of the cavern with the sleeping queen resting against his side. He bit his lip in order to keep himself from letting out a chuckle. Sleeping next to him, with her head on his shoulder, mouth agape, and arms lazily draped to the ground, was his tightly wound queen. Gregor had his arms and legs crossed while his ear lightly rested against her pale hair and the back of his head lay against the smooth cave wall. Quietly, he clicked his tongue to view the room once more—The remaining few embers of the once brightly burning torch were now just barely glinting any light.

The sound nimbly reflected off the walls, and ventured just feet outside the exit before bouncing off a large creature and pinging back to Gregor. Too panicked to click his tongue again, he lurched forward to stand. Numbly forgetting Luxa was fast asleep leaning on him, so she then slipped, and started to fall towards the solid ground. Gregor, too shocked to even move again, stared wide-eyed as she rapidly approached the unforgiving stone.

Gregor was already starting to run through his head what he would say to Vikus when Luxa whipped her arms out to brace her fall in the last moments. He had little time to react with even a relieved exhale when she then rolled to the ground, and sprang back up, then started flailing her fists wildly in the dark. Overcoming his mini-heart attack, Gregor swiftly lifted a hand to grasp one of her wrists. Then, using her moment of being stunned, he smoothly pulled it over to lock the remaining wrist in his middle and index finger. Gregor pulled her closer so that he could whisper in her ear without potentially being heard by the _thing _outside. Or rather; outside the cave.

"Don't make a sound." He murmured as best he could without his voice cracking from adrenaline from his sudden spike of fear. If he were to fight, could he? The tension in the air around them vanished, as Luxa must have recognized his voice.

"Overlander, what is going on? Why are you—" She stepped forward as Gregor released his careful grasp, but he cut her off.

"Later, I promise, but right now we have bigger problems." He looked over his shoulder instinctively as if somebody was watching them, but of course nobody could considering the pitch black darkness was enveloping them in such a manner that Gregor could just barely see the faint glow of Luxa's pale hair.

The short ruffle of what he assumed was a result of Luxa nodding her head and the skin rubbing against the smooth fabric was what Gregor took as a signal to lead on. After grabbing one of her hands once more, and having to switch to her opposite hand on account of the angles making it awkward to walk with, she laced her fingers into his in a subtle sign of encouragement.

If Gregor knew what he was about to face, he would have needed an entire embrace from Luxa.

Slowly, they broadly stepped and made their way towards the tunnel that led to the entrance. Before leaving Gregor slid his foot against the ground to get one final 'look' at the place with his echolocation. He squeezed Luxa's hand once to let her know he was going to be moving forward, and she gently tugged back in response.

Wait a minute, Gregor thought as the cave mouth started to broaden, it's no predator it's—

"Pups and your mushy love stuff."

Ripred. It just _had _to be Ripred. But of course it was. There sitting on his hind legs, leaning back as if he hadn't caused the two of them multiple panic attacks, and nonchalantly gnawing a rather large bone into a point was the good for nothing rat.

"Holy shit," Gregor started to threaten the old, scarred, rat. Releasing Luxa's hand—Leaving her momentarily in the dark, which of course he would apologize for at a later time. He began to take a few steps towards Ripred, but was intercepted by another gnawer who promptly bared his two incisors and puffed up his pelt.

"Slashtongue, back off." Ripred's bone he was chewing on broke in half, and he flicked away one half. Leaving the larger piece for him to throw into his mouth, chew into bite-sized pieces with his molars, and spit out onto the floor. Gregor realized this action to be Ripred's form of showing his dominance over the other gnawer.

The new rat, Slashtongue, smoothed its pelt down, and loped over to stand at Ripred's side. Then, with a muffled grunt, he, or she, lifted their forelegs off the ground to lean back on their hind haunches as Ripred was. Slashtongue was roughly a foot shorter than Ripred. As for how old they were, Gregor could not even hope to guess. With a concealed shudder, he remembered how swiftly Bane had grown in just a few short months.

"Are you going to introduce yourself, pup?" Ripred turned to face him, or her, Gregor hoped to find out soon.

"Yes, Father." A garbled voice sounded from the smaller rat. That alone was enough to make Gregor freeze. His entire being was in a state of confusion of whether or not to laugh at the fact that Ripred was even capable of being a father, or remain quiet to determine the gender of his pup.

"I am Slashtongue, or if you're sense of humor his remotely like Ripred's, you'll probably end up calling me 'Notongue,' or 'Mangledmouth.'" Slashtongue's voice seethed with sarcasm. That is, the little voice he had. Most of any sound uttered from the gnawer's mouth was absorbed with the sound of slurping from it attempting to keep in all it's saliva or the clicking of it's uneven teeth.

"You mean neither of those are your name?" Ripred looked away; pretending to be hurt.

"I, um, didn't mean it like that, Father." Slashtongue looked down in shame, "You can… You can still call me those if you'd like."

"Easily guilt tripped, yet one hell of a fighter." Ripred shook his head and let out a sound that vaguely resembled a 'tsk.'

"Sorry…"

"I guess the strange combination creates character, or whatever, so I guess if I wanted uniqueness you'd be my favorite son." The larger rat lifted a claw to the bottom of his own muzzle as if scratching a beard.

"I'm your only son." Slashtongue looked over, but was so focused on Ripred that he forgot to suck in that last strand of spit, and caused a string of it to hit the floor with a vile 'splat.'

"Right. It's easy to forget that Sharpear isn't a male." This must have been funny to the both of him, because it caused a few snorts of amusement to escape both of them.

"Why did you bring me along anyways, and not her?" Slashtongue tilted his head in curiosity, once more causing thick, gooey, saliva to roll out.

"It was only right to bring all the known ragers together." Ripred nodded once before turning to where Luxa stand in shock. The poor queen could probably only hear the wicked sounds coming from Slashtongue. "I guess it's alright that the queen of Regalia be present as well."


	9. New Faces, New Stories

Woot. It's chapter nine. Sorry about the confusion with Ripred's offspring. Honestly, I used to be a huge Warriors fan, so I found my old list of gruesome names I made in like fourth grade and was like, "Wow. These could be gnawer names." Then I thought that only Ripred would be able to name his children such vile names. I guess you guys are here to read about Gregor, and not my strange thought process, so here's the wonderful—

Disclaimer: I own nothing. _The Underland Chronicles_ (Including, but not limited to: Characters, events, and places) aren't mine, and never will be.

* * *

Previous: "It was only right to bring all the known ragers together." Ripred nodded once before turning to where Luxa stand in shock. The poor queen could probably only hear the wicked sounds coming from Slashtongue. "I guess it's alright that the queen of Regalia be present as well."

* * *

Gregor once more just barely was able contain a sudden burst of laughter; subduing it by clamping his lips into thin lines. This, he thought, this rat is a rager? Gregor felt fingers brush against his side, and mildly froze before remembering Luxa was somewhere behind him probably wondering what the hell was going on. Keeping his face turned to where the two gnawers sat quizzically looking at him, Gregor lifted his hand to meet hers, and guided her slowly to his side—Keeping her hand in his to steady her of course.

"The queen is here? Father, why didn't you tell me?" Slashtongue whined and turned his back to Gregor and Luxa. "I'll probably scare her off, or… Or what if I look like a monster. Already I can't go anywhere near Regalia because some guard thought I had some disease." The younger gnawer buried his face against his own pelt, for now he was curled up in a subtly shuddering ball of fur.

Gregor, having a softer spot for misunderstood gnawers after the incident with Lapblood, wanted to step forward and comfort Slashtongue. As if Ripred could predict Gregor's emotions, a scarred tail whipped out to block Gregor's path. Luxa on the other hand was hardly fazed by the sounds of the gnawer's misery.

"I've seen far worse things than a beat up gnawer." Gregor let out a single laugh to try and cheer up the beaten down Slashtongue. "There's this guy in the Overland by the name of Justin Bieber, and as far as I'm concerned his face is _really _scary." Gregor pretended to shudder.

"I'll have to agree with you on that one, boy. Found a few posters of him while in a library once. Bet he gave me mental scars to go with the battle-caused ones." Ripred set down his rough tail, and leaned back further to reach back and pull out another bone. Gregor half expected him to verbally continue to torcher Slashtongue, but his new bone seemed more interesting.

"R-really?" The voice was hardly audible through his pelt.

"Yes, and now that nobody's feelings are hurt, we can all go back to Regalia? Okay? Good." Ripred spoke before Gregor could even open his mouth to respond to the younger gnawer, and quickly turned. The scar-embedded rat began to make a series of scratching and clicking noises. Before Gregor could question it, or recognize a form of the code used during a war years ago, multiple gusts of stale cave air wafted swiftly and smoothly over his face.

A flier, Euripedes Gregor guessed, had landed just feet away from them.

"Vikus and the citizens of Regalia await. Need I remind you, Queen Luxa, that this is the fourth time you have postponed your coronation?" The voice was lighter and softer than Euripedes', and with a smile Gregor recognized it.

"Nike, it's good to see you again. Erm—Hear you, I guess." He took a step towards the flier princess, and gave her a small, formal bow. Assuming that with the much farther advanced echolocation that bats had she could easily tell where he was.

Before she could respond, two more fliers landed.

"It is good to see you too, Overlander." Nike purred, "Meet you Hera and Zeus, my children." In union both of the smaller fliers aligned themselves beside Nike, dipped their heads, and spoke.

"Greetings, Overlander." Because of both of them speaking together it took a few moments to identify which flier was which. Sitting to Nike's left was Hera, who stood at about half a foot shorter than her mother. At the princess' right sat Zeus who looked hardly less than a few inches shorter than his mother.

"How is your mother, and the other fliers?" Gregor attempted to keep some sort of formality. There was a brief pause, and both Hera and Nike winced. Wrong question, he thought regretfully.

"She passed months after the arrival of Hera and Zeus." Nike opened her left wing for Hera to shuffle closer and lean into her mother's side.

"I'm so sorry." Gregor's voice lowered and softened as he nodded his head in respect.

"The royal bloodline lives on, for now I am the queen, and my children will continue the legacy after me." Both of the younger fliers seemed to perk up at the thought of that. Zeus straightened his back in a gesture of pride. Gregor would have been judgmental of their attitudes about their grandmother's demise, but held his tongue because of the fact that he hadn't been raised by the brutal laws of royalty.

"Speaking of royalty, _you, _dearest queen, need to return to Regalia at once." Ripred picked at his teeth before pointing to Luxa, spraying a slight mist of saliva on the two. Despite the rat-spit shower, Gregor silently thanked Ripred for ending that awkward conversation. Luxa shrank away from the gnawer's actions, and knowing her she probably gave him a dirty look.

"I assume that is somewhat correct, but do you think it is possible to reschedule it to tomorrow? I'm terribly exhausted." There was a begging whine lacing her tone. To this Gregor raised a brow.

"If my guessing is correct you two were sleeping, right?" Ripred scratched his chin, "To say you're tired would inquire that you were doing… Other activities. I'm sure Vikus wouldn't think so positively if I were to word this situation like that."

Gregor felt his face burn, and was thankful that nobody could see him. Though being surrounded by animals with highly tuned ears that could probably hear his racing heart was no comfort for him.

"Then I won't attend. I refuse." Luxa promptly took a step away from Gregor and crossed her arms.

"Dad, maybe we should just—" Slashtongue began, but was cut off by Ripred's harsh tone.

"Listen here you spoiled little girl, I know you feel on top of the world because the Overlander is here by chance, but your entire city—thousands of people—have been planning this day, and devoting their whole lives for your perfect party." Ripred advanced a few steps, and his ivories bore slightly when he spoke.

"Chain me there to my chair then. I won't be served." The queen made a sniffing sound and turned her nose away.

"Well then have it your way." Ripred turned to Gregor, "Prepare yourself, Gregor, looks like we're leaving a few days early."

"Leaving?" Gregor's voice cracked at the sudden turn of mood, "If you dare think I'm already leaving the Underland then… Then you're wrong!" His arms flew in the air defensively.

"It's a wonder how your brain can even distinguish colors." Ripred grumbled, "Didn't Vikus talk to you with Nerissa. You know, about the Prophecy of the Return. Remember now? Good boy, I'll get you a golden sticker before we head off."

A tremor of shock sparked through Gregor's whole being.

"That was serious." He murmured in a hardly audible tone before clasping his hands over his face.

It wasn't much help that Slashtongue's puddle of drool was starting to reach the toes of Gregor's sandals.

"No offense, but we wouldn't go through the trouble of dragging you down here just to attend a coronation. Though the looks of the Underlanders were quite amusing. The queen's expression was far more entertaining." Ripred paused to snort in laughter. "Yes, it was serious. Now if you're ready I think we should start packing some things. Journey might take days longer than any other down here I believe. We still need to see who's attending, and before Luxa attempts to even think of joining you just know she can't. I'd say that you could maybe take roughly seven people, and with that—"

"Ripred." Gregor cut him off, "Lets focus on getting back to Regalia first."

"Father, may I come too? If… If it's okay with the queen?" Slashtongue cocked his head and looked up at Ripred. Both holding in as much saliva and pleading his father for approval.

"Take the fliers," Ripred mumbled as he turned around and padded towards the edge, "we'll meet you there."

Awkwardly Gregor looked at the three fliers; unsure of whom to ride.

"Could the Overlander be with me on the way back?" Hera curiously chirped. Nike looked back and forth between Gregor and her daughter before shaking her head.

"Maybe next time. For this ride I can carry the queen and Overlander." With that the flier queen turned and allowed Gregor to approach.

As Gregor was about to mount the bat he heard Luxa clear her throat. Smooth, he thought bitterly, leave the girl in the dark.

"Erm, sorry." He turned back to gently grab her wrist and guide her to Nike's backside. Gregor boosted Luxa onto the bat's neck before lifting himself up. It took a few moments for Nike to adjust to the weight. In these moments Gregor awkwardly tried to leave a few inches between Luxa's back and his chest. In take off the effort was lost when the queen leaned back into him due to the sudden gust of wind. Gregor heard her mutter an apology, but before she could lean back forward he draped his arms on top of her pale ones, and laced all ten fingers together.

Hera and Zeus were not-so-silently flying some lengths behind their mother. Hera would giggle every few moments, and Zeus would mutter something about 'not understanding adults.'

Gregor simply smiled, flashing his white teeth in the dark where nobody would see. His ears started to burn again at Ripred's words, but he pushed the thought back into the corners of his mind; enjoying the moment he was living in.

Just as the faint outline of Regalia was visible Gregor thought he heard a voice, but after straining to hear it again and failing, he shrugged slightly and pushed that thought away too. Until he heard it again. Though it wasn't just a voice; it was a terrified shout yelling into the night:

"Cutters!" The voice wailed, "Cutters are marching on Regalia!"


End file.
